Light and Dark: The Awakening of the Mageknight

He finds himself fighting the school bully and winning, due to mysterious predictive visions, And, when he is attacked by Shadows and the beautiful new girl in school, Sabrina Drake, turns into a dragon to protect him, things begin to get really odd. Her father is a figure from his favorite collectible card game, a Knight of the Light, and he offers Danny a chance to train to be a Knight as well, along with four friends (Alonso, Matt, Chris, and Doug) who also prove to have the required powers. Naturally, the boys jump at the adventure. But training proves harder than they’d thought, and Danny discovers resources within him that he never thought he had – resources that might prove him to be the long-awaited Mageknight of Prophecy. But can he trust all his teachers? Can he build his talents quickly enough to face the danger that lies ahead? And can he win Sabrina’s heart into the bargain?

This is a lively start to a promising young-adult fantasy series, going straight to the heart of every bright would-be-paladin’s dreams. The characters are well-drawn and likeable, especially Danny,whose determination and courage mix with his thirteen-year-old insecurities to draw a picture of a thoroughly charming young man, with great potential ahead of him. The plot moves quickly enough to capture even an active young boy’s attention, with enough twists and turns to keep the reader   entertained up until the end. The society the reader is given to explore is a well-developed, three-dimensional world with its own reasonable and well-defined rules, and characters of other races are intriguingly different without being utterly foreign. All of the necessary ingredients of a good fantasy – loyal friends and traitorous enemies, wise teachers and hard lessons, magic, adventure, and even a bit of young adult romance – are present, and tied together in a readable and enjoyable fashion.

The book could use a bit of editing – some of the sentences can read a bit awkwardly, and there is the occasional error. Some of the plot twists are foreshadowed a bit too much, making the plot more predictable than it really ought to be, but this is a common trait of the genre, and does not detract appreciably from the story.

If you are still waiting for your Hogwarts acceptance letter or longing to ride with the Rohirrim against Sauron, you may find this a delightful adventure. Reviewed by Catherine Langrehr for IndieReader.